Bangladesh beefs up security ahead of special tribunal’s verdict against former PM Hasina

Security is beefed up across Bangladesh with police in the national capital ordered to shoot violent protesters ahead of a special tribunal’s verdict against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina over alleged crimes against humanity even as prosecution on Sunday reiterated the death penalty for her.

On Monday, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) is set to deliver the verdict against 78-year-old Hasina after her trial in absentia.

“We have sought the highest possible sentence for Hasina. Additionally, we requested for seizure of the convicts’ property to be distributed among families of the martyrs and the injured victims (of last year’s violent street protest),” ICT-BD prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim told reporters.

The ICT-BD law would debar Hasina from challenging the verdict in the apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court unless she surrendered or was arrested in subsequent 30 days after its delivery, Tamim said.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel have been deployed in four districts, including Dhaka, following a spate of violent incidents such as fires and crude bomb explosions linked to the imminent verdict in the case.

“The law enforcement agencies have already completed their necessary preparations” to prevent unpleasant events across the country,” Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency.

Apart from the BGB deployment, police in Dhaka have been ordered to shoot violent protestors as tensions brewed over the law and order situation ahead of the Monday verdict.

“I stated over the wireless that anyone who sets a bus on fire or throws crude bombs with intent to kill should be shot. This authority is clearly provided in our law,” local newspapers quoted Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali as saying.

Hasina, her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and then inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are accused of the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the anti-government protests last year.

The case list crimes under five counts, with the first one alleging the defendants of murder, attempted murder, torture, and other inhumane acts.

The tribunal framed the charges against the trio on July 10.

Hasina and Kamal were tried in absentia, with the court declaring them fugitives, while Mamun faced the trial in person but turned approver, as a state witness.

Hasina’s supporters have maintained that the charges against her are politically motivated.

According to a February 2025 UN rights office report, up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year (dubbed as the ‘July Uprising’) as Hasina’s government ordered a security crackdown on protesters.

Following widespread protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs, Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024. Three days later, Muhammad Yunus took over as the chief adviser of the Interim government.

Demanding death penalty for Hasina, ICT-BD chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam has alleged that she was the “mastermind and principal architect” behind the crimes against humanity committed during the mass protests in 2024.

On Saturday, Islam said, “We prayed for the maximum punishment. The court will exercise its discretion, and we hope the accused are given the highest possible sentence.”

Home affairs adviser Chowdhury, meanwhile, said whatever verdict is delivered, “it will be executed.”

The prosecution team said the proceedings of the ICT-BD when it delivered the verdict would be broadcast live by state-run BTV and arrangements are made for it to be shown on large screens at several locations in Dhaka. The verdict will also be streamed on ICT-BD’s official Facebook page.

However, only parts of the judgment would be aired “subject to final approval” of the tribunal, the team said.

A statement from the BGB headquarters confirmed the deployments in Dhaka, Gopalganj, Faridpur, and Madaripur, assigning the force “to ensure overall security and maintain law and order in these areas.”              The Supreme Court, meanwhile, sent two subsequent letters to the Army Headquarters with the latest being on Sunday requesting troops deployment to strengthen security around the ICT-BD ahead of the verdict.

Hasina’s now disbanded Awami League party had announced a “Dhaka lockdown” campaign last week on November 10, coinciding with the day ICT-BD fixed the date for delivering its judgment.

Since that day, a series of clandestine, mostly pre-dawn, attacks took place when unidentified suspects exploded crude bombs, including at the entrance of interim government chief Muhammad Yunus-founded Grameen Bank head office.

In the past two days, a wave of arson and crude bomb attacks in multiple areas across Dhaka, targeting public transports, institutions linked to the chief adviser and one of his advisory council members and the student-led National Citizen Party leader have sparked public anxiety.

While there was no casualty reported, police overnight arrested 18 Awami League activists.

The tribunal on October 23 concluded the hearing in the case after over 28 working days, when 54 witnesses testified before the court describing how efforts were made to tame last year’s student-led movement.

The interim government has sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has yet to respond to the request.

In several recent interviews with major international news outlets, including the Indian media, Hasina called the ICT-BD a “kangaroo court” run entirely by men linked to her political opponents.

UK-based leading law firm Doughty House Chambers recently submitted an “urgent appeal” to the United Nations, saying Hasina was being tried in “an environment charged with political vengeance, under an unelected interim government with no democratic mandate.”          Last month, the Awami League filed a petition with the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the Yunus’ administration of crimes against humanity, including killings and arbitrary arrests of its members.

The ICT-BD was established in 2010 during Hasina’s rule to try hardened collaborators of Pakistani forces in the 1971 Liberation War.

Tajul Islam, at that time, appeared as a key lawyer to defend the accused. The tribunal’s operations were later suspended.

The interim government led by Yunus amended the ICT-BD law to allow trials of leaders from the past regime paving the way for the current case against Hasina.